Dover to Calais - the hard way
In which sport do competitors negotiate oil tankers, swarms of jellyfish and the onset of hypothermia? Swimmers from Oxford and Cambridge have been braving such dangers bi-ennially since 1998 in the Varsity Cross-Channel Swimming Match.
On 6th July, a six-strong Oxford team successfully crossed from Dover to Cape Griz-Nez, a momentous achievement that overshadowed their eventual narrow defeat to the Tabs.
The team of Leighton Cardwell, Garry Manley, Grace Marshall, Eleanor Taylor, PJ Thum and Gemma Tinson swam in one-hour legs. Five weeks of intensive training, including open-water swimming at Poole, culminated in two swimmers running down the beach for the 3am start to the race.
With arguments about the legality of vaseline coverage forgotten, the race soon shaped up to be one of the most closely contested crossings in the history of channel swimming. Guided by glow-sticks strapped to their goggles, the first leg swimmers fought for the early advantage. After two hours Cambridge had a lead of 200m, a deficit which an excellent swim by departing squad member PJ Thum was able to reduce. Helped by tactical steering by the Oxford support boat and inspired by the glorious sunrise, Oxford regained parity on several occasions. Grace Marshall took on the buffeting waves with gusto, passing the halfway buoy in Varsity record time.
Gemma Tinson heroically completed her second leg of the race, despite the hypothermia and seasickness that she suffered as a result of her earlier exertions. Gemma recalls:
"I discovered that we would be disqualified if I didn't swim - or at least trod water - for an hour. So I got in reluctantly, but this time the sun was out and everything seemed much nicer. So swallowing water and with some interesting leg kicking I made my way to France!"
Gemma's efforts boosted morale to the extent that Thum took off in such determined fashion that his team was unable to inform him that he was swimming towards Denmark! Back on track, Eleanor Marshall dived in for the last 800m to the coast, aiming to snatch victory with a superior course. Marshall washed up on the rocky shore twenty minutes behind the Cambridge swimmer, nine hours and 13 minutes after leaving Dover. An impromptu awards ceremony resulted in Cambridge being handed the sizeable trophy, and in both teams reflecting on their recent adventures. Leighton Cardwell told The Oxford Student: "We finished the race with a mixture of exhaustion, nausea and enthusiasm. It was, from accounts on both teams, an immense experience, and all those involved have memories that will last a lifetime."
The Oxford side are considering an offer to race across the straights of Gibralter next year, and will look for Varsity revenge when the teams next negotiate the channel in 2006.
6th Oct 2004